Add Stress To The Growing List Of Farm Problems

Farm foreclosures are leading to an unprecedented number of stress- related medical problems in America's breadbasket, a survey of family physicians and psychiatrists reveals.

The problems include alcohol abuse, depression and accidental deaths, according to American Medical News.

In rural Kansas, for example, mental health clinics have asked clergymen and bankers to refer any farmers who seem especially troubled or suicidal to sources of help, reports the newspaper, published by the American Medical Association. One hotline reports almost a doubling of calls from distressed farmers over a few years ago.

In their efforts to make ends meet, some farmers work as many as 20 hours a day, the report said. ''In the process, they make themselves vulnerable to symptoms of heart disease, ulcer, anxiety disorders and clinical depression.''